Mariss Jansons

Posted: Wednesday | 05.01.13

Mariss Jansons Conducts

Live from The Philharmonie Im Gasteig, Munich, 2011

This is a wonderful recording by two outstanding musicians, supported by a fine German orchestra. I always admire and respect Mariss Jansons for his excellent conducting. And Mitsuko Uchida’s playing has earned her a major position among pianists of our day.

The program we hear is as follows:

Beethoven:

Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37

Soloist is Mitsuko Uchida (piano)

Strauss, R:

Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40

Performed by the Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks, conducted by Mariss Jansons

Beethoven wrote his Piano Concerto No. 3 around 1800, at a time in which the composer had created his first important works in Vienna, such as the “Pathétique” Sonata and the “Moonlight” Sonata – works full of power and passion, with which he distanced himself from his mentor and model, Joseph Haydn.

This performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the direction of its principal conductor Mariss Jansons features the distinguished pianist Mitsuko Uchida, who is known the world over for her outstanding interpretations of the piano works of Schubert, Mozart and Beethoven, as well as of 20th-century masters such as Arnold Schoenberg, Berg, Webern and Boulez.

Richard Strauss wrote his tone poem for large orchestra “Ein Heldenleben” (A Hero’s Life) in 1898, shortly before he left Munich for the Berlin Court Opera, where he was appointed house conductor. This composition describes an imaginary hero whose eventful life parallels somewhat the considerable hostility that Strauss himself experienced in his early Munich period.
Here is the Beethoven Piano Concerto No.3 with Mitsuko Uchida and M. Jansons, conducting: